FERTILIZATION ON PARTHENOGENESIS. 



I6 7 



egg surface. This is well illustrated by microscopical examina- 

 tion of eggs allowed to stand after treatment as well as by their 

 behavior upon the addition of sperm. The following experiment 



will be instructive. 



Experiment. 



8:45 A.M. eggs collected, washed, divided into lots A, B, C, D. 

 9:01 A.M. to 9:10 A.M. A. exposed to butyric acid for i minute. 



B. " " 7\ minutes. 



C. " " " " 5 



D. control. 



A, B, and C poured into I liter of alkaline sea water to stop 

 action of the acid and all were transferred, 9:15 A.M., to normal 

 sea water, and allowed to stand at room temperature. Samples 

 were removed at stated times and inseminated. The results of 

 these inseminations, made within six hours after exposure to 

 butyric acid, are given in Table III. 



TABLE III. 



We can readily see that conditions are becoming changed gradu- 

 ally; the feitilization capacity is being gradually reduced and 

 substances diffuse from the eggs as revealed by the microscope. 

 This diffusion of substances from the egg interferes very markedly 

 with the agglutination reaction but despite these conditions very 

 significant results have been obtained. 



In reporting these experiments the writer has adopted the 

 terminology and method devised by Lillie and he needs only 

 here to review again the terminology employed and to very 

 briefly restate the method. 1 



1 For a more detailed account of the methods see Lillie, '14, Study VI. 



